Harder than it should be
by tyrannosaurus lex. luthor
Summary: He's taken on cyborg ninjas, psychics, giant nuclear robots and things that would make any lesser men piss themselves to Mars. Why is it so hard to propose? A short, fluffy and slightly humorous marriage proposal fic. Not really a sequel to At Peace, but I guess it technically COULD be. Read and review.


Author's Note: Sup peoples! I'd just like to point out before you go any further that I have never, ever, in the history of forever, played a Metroid game in my life. In fact, beside Super Smash Bros, I haven't played a Nintendo game since the Gameboy hit stores. If Samus seems OOC, I greatly apologize for my lack of knowledge, but don't hate me, because you have been warned. Read at your own risk. If you dare...

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><p>This is harder than it should be.<p>

Snake paces around the carpited floor in his room, one of his hands in his pocket and the other clutching a small ring box. He doesn't know how and when he is going to ask her The Question, but he needs to.

He'd tried quite a few times before. Unfortunately, either something went wrong or he chickened out. Whatever he inherited from Big Boss, romantic ability is not one of them. Then again, maybe that is for the better, as he has told himself many times. He could never shake the feeling that maybe this is wrong. He really doesn't deserve her. She's beautiful, strong, courageous, she can find someone better than him with ease. He doesn't want to push her into making a decision she will most likely regret. But, then again, she's proven her love for him more than once. Despite him being a complete bastard she's never once shown any signs of not being content.

How would it work?

She's headstrong, somewhat prideful, and very stubborn. Couple that with the fact that he's very well known for all of those attributes _and_ being a jackass, and he's bound to piss her off sometime down the road. He realizes that he will need many, many escape plans when that happens, considering the bounty huntress is more than capable of folding him in half, stuffing him in a sack and chucking him down a ravine.

What if she wants children?

He shuddered at the thought. Him having been created sterile will most likely put a damper in their relationship. They will never have a family, unless they adopt. But of course she knows this. If she says yes to his proposal, that will mean she's already taken him being sterile into consideration and still be okay with it.

Wait... **_If_** she says yes...

Fuck.

He's been so nervous and jittery just thinking about what will happen if she says yes that he completely forgot there is a second option. Freezing on the spot, he started to panic internally. A thousand potential scenarios to carry out his plan. Then he realized s nearly three-fourths of them would end with a slap, or worse, a word that could possibly drive him mad.

What if she says no?

He's been in the army for most of his life. He understands war, not women. He doesn't know what to think if she says no. Will she just want more time to think about marriage? Will she want things to stay as they are? Or will she want to just end their relationship? He isn't sure if he can live without her, not anymore, not after what she has done to his heart and head. If she says no… He has no idea what he'll do.

Still worked up and not sure what to do, Snake steps out onto the balcony. There is still many parts of this world he has yet to explore and he contemplated asking Samus to walk with him when she finished her tournament as he perched on the railing, looking out at the beautiful vision of snow gently descending to coat the earth in white, but he knows how much the cold affected her more than him.

He's so distracted with his thoughts that he failed to hear her as she steps into the room and onto the balcony. He's visibly startled at the sound of her clearing her throat, jarring him from his thoughts as he turns around to look at Samus, his eyes wide and his footing slightly faltering.

The damn woman. He takes great pride in knowing that almost nobody could sneak up on him...

Her brow furrows when she sees his body sway precariously and she steps forward, an arm slightly outstretched to help. He stops her, shaking his head to show he is fine. "Are you ok? You looked like you were about to have a heart attack." Her responding smirk was just a small quirk of her lips and a gleam in her eyes. She has a very subtle way of teasing.

"I'm fine." He said, still breathing a bit heavily from the sudden scare, feeling like a. idiot. He would have noticed her when she entered the room if he could think straight. Does every man's mind go into complete chaos when they're about to propose?

This is all wrong. He is Solid Snake for fucks sake! He's gone one on one with cyborg ninjas, psychics, giant nuclear robots, and things that would make any lesser men piss themselves to Mars. If a bomb was strapped to him at that moment he wouldn't even flinch, yet saying four words has him practically shitting bricks.

He has to do it now, he decides. He needs to do it now before he does or says something stupid. Besides, the balcony is as good a place as any. It's a beautiful night, full moon is out, the snow is falling. According to Marth and Link, women love that stuff. Though, he has a gut feeling that he is going to be laughed out of SONY for this. Nathan Drake will never let him hear the end of this when he finds out...

Taking a deep breath, he steps back a bit and looks deeply into her eyes, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He... He can do it, he tells himself. Don't think about it, just say it. It's time to face her answer.

"Samus... I'm excitable at the moment, and I would never want you to say something you may possibly regret..." Her blue eyes stay locked with his as she has no idea where this is going. "But... I've tried to keep this hidden and locked away thinking that would be better, but I realized that I may never get another chance like this, with someone like you. I can't push this down anymore..."

He paces, his boots thudding against the pavement as he walks back and forth before her. Her eyes were wide as she watches him begin to pace with a confused gleam in her eye, "Oh... Oh-kay?"

"All right, one deep breath..." he inhales deeply, keeping it in his lungs, "And hold...and out..." he exhales and shakes his arms, trying to remove the tension, "Okay that wasn't enough, one more..." Repeating the same actions he inhales deeply, "Holding... Holding... And... out..." He grounds himself, "Right. I'm ready. Here it goes. I hope you're prepared because I have no idea what I'm doing."

He says nothing for a few minutes. He just sorta stares down at her beautiful face, taking everything in. Her eyes. Her lips. Her beautiful blonde hair. She really was the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on. He really does not deserve her. But fuck that, he wants her with him for the rest of their lives.

He drops to one knee and takes out a small blue box, opening the lid, showing her a shining silver ring with a small diamond as the centre piece. "I love you Samus. Your everything I could ever need or want. Stronge, independant, gorgeous," he looks her up and down. "And very well endowed." His grin makes her roll her eyes, but she's still listening to him intently." I know I don't deserve you, but there's no one I would rather be with. So... I was wondering if you would want to be my wife?" He smiled up at her, nervously scratching the back of his head. He really has no idea how this is supposed to be done or if he was even doing this right. "So, what do you think?

Her face is blank for a moments, as if the question is still sinking in. What does she _think_? Surely he knows what. A slow grin spread across her face. "Yes." Laughter bubbled out of her. "Of _course_."

"Really?" he asks, but apparently it was more out of nerves than a need for confirmation, for everything about his expression said he was thrilled with her answer.

"Yes, really," she says happily, punching him lightly on the arm. "This is me, saying yes."she whispers as she flings her arms around him. She kisses him passionately, pressing him back against the balcony wall, the railing digging into his lower back, but Snake finds that he doesn't really mind.

When they come up for air, he gently tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles in a way that makes her stomach flip over. "I've been wanting to ask you for a while now."

"I've thought about it a few times myself," she admits. God, it's a wonder they'd ever managed to get as far as they are, they are both so cautious and defensive, she thinks with some amusement. "So what took you so long?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't sure if you would say no and things would change between us."

Her palm gently cups his check as she gives him a quick peck on his lips. "We practically already are married, minus thedocuments. I don't need a ring to know that I love you. I'd tell you that every minute of every day if I have to."

A few minutes pass by, neither of them moving, simply enjoying each other's company and embrace. Finally, Snake speaks up. "Soo... What now?"

Samus places her hand on his chest, gratified to feel a shiver run through him. She started to play with one of the buttons on his shirt, twisting it back and forth before finally slipping it out of its hole. "Well, I'll sit up all night with you if you want to talk."

He querked a brow.

"'Okay, so no talking. What else have you have in mind?" She moved her hand down his chest, swiftly freeing another button.

He kisses her lightly. "Well..." Again. "I actually wasn't thinking about _conversation_ at all." Once more.

"Funny," she said, feeling giddy as she loosened another button. "Neither was I..."

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><p>Author's Note: Well... That was a lot more OOC than it was supposed to be. Things really seem to play out better in my head. Oh well, it's really late and I'm about to pass out, so you people will just have to deal with this until I get off my lazy arse and decide to make this less OOC. Which probably won't happen because I'm an idiot who keeps posting new stories instead of updating others. Though I have made it to chapter four on The Enemy of My Enemy. I guess that's sorta an accomplishment.<p>

Arse... Don't you just love how Brits say that? It's so much more entertaining than saying ass. Our Murican words are so bland sometimes. British words seem to have a little more umph! to it, it's so fun! In fact, I think I'm going to say it again. Arse, arse arse arse arse... Please excuse my stupidity.


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